The Los Angeles Rams trotted out a new-look defense on Monday night against the Oakland Raiders, and we’re not just talking secondary and defensive line. They had a total of seven new starters on defense, highlighted by Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Ndamukong Suh.

However, two lesser-known players had a big impact on Monday night’s win, as well. Cory Littleton and Samson Ebukam played well in their 2018 debuts, their first season as primary starters in the NFL. Littleton led the team with 13 tackles, while Ebukam had three tackles for loss and found himself around Derek Carr on several occasions.

It was a step in the right direction, and while they aren’t top-tier starters at this point yet, they are crucial to the success of the defense. Coach Sean McVay came away impressed with their first performances of the new season, saying they were both “extremely active.” Here’s what he had to say about Ebukam getting after the quarterback.

“Samson did a great job rushing off the edge. I thought he did a good job making a bunch of TFLs. You could feel his presence. He’s a guy that’s continuing to get better and better whether it’s rushing, whether it’s playing in some coverage things, understanding the nuances of the defense,” McVay said Wednesday.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Ebukam is locked in as one of the starting outside linebackers, but there’s far more uncertainty on the other side. Matt Longacre was supposed to be the other starter, but he played just 22 snaps in Week 1 and hardly made an impact. Dominique Easley has a chance to lock down that job, but he needs to be more productive, too.

At inside linebacker, Mark Barron’s injury has complicated things a bit, too. Littleton will most likely start as long as he’s healthy, but Ramik Wilson isn’t a great coverage guy, nor is Micah Kiser. Fortunately, Littleton played well enough to instill some confidence in the coaching staff, both against the pass and the run.

“I thought Cory was excellent. You really feel his speed and his instincts show up. On the toss play to the perimeter where he’s able to race to the edge when we had an inside fire zone and he ends up making a tackle right there,” McVay said. “Makes the pick. So, he’s a guy that I want to say he had 14 – by our coaches’ charts – 14 solo tackles. His communication – and I thought really what says as much as anything is, it was a tough start. A lot kind of unprepared for looks where you weren’t really sure. His ability to settle in in addition to our coaches and then his teammates I thought was a real credit to him and their ability to be able to work through some tough things. That’s why you play two halves and I thought he did a great job the other night.”

Had Littleton come out and laid an egg, the Rams would’ve been in real trouble. Barron is one of the leaders of the defense and arguably the best linebacker on the team, but Littleton could be taking over that title in short order.

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